unable to keep up with him or translate his ideas. The white men were
left to guess his meaning by watching his wrathful face and the
excitement of his hearers. The Indians, however, understood him
perfectly, and when the council was over and they went to their homes
all repeated what they could remember of the wonderful speech.
The influence of Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh increased. The excitement
among the Indians became more general. Governor Harrison again wrote to
the Shawnee tribes. He began by reminding them of the treaties between
the Indians and the people of the United States:
"My children, listen to me. I speak in the name of your father, the
great chief of the Seventeen Fires.
"My children, it is now twelve years since the tomahawk, which you had
raised by the advice of your father, the King of Great Britain, was
buried at Greenville, in the presence of that great warrior, General
Wayne.
"My children, you then promised, and the Great Spirit heard it, that you
would in future live in peace and friendship with your brothers, the
Americans. You made a treaty with your father, and one that contained a
number of good things, equally beneficial to all the tribes of red
people who were parties to it.
"My children, you promised in that treaty to acknowledge no other father
than the chief of the Seventeen Fires, and never to listen to the
proposition of any foreign nation. You promised never to lift up the
tomahawk against any of your father's children, and to give notice of
any other tribe that intended it. Your father also promised to do
something for you, particularly to deliver to you every year a certain
quantity of goods, to prevent any white man from settling on your lands
without your consent, or from doing you any personal injury. He promised
to run a line between your land and his, so that you might know your
own; and you were to be permitted to live and hunt upon your father's
land as long as you behaved yourselves well. My children, which of these
articles has your father broken? You know that he has observed them all
with the utmost good faith. But, my children, have you done so? Have you
not always had your ears open to receive bad advice from the white
people beyond the lakes?"
Although Governor Harrison writes in this letter as if he thought the
white men had kept their part of the treaty, he had written quite
differently to President Jefferson, telling him how the settlers were
continually violating the treaty by hunting on Indian territory and
reporting that it was impossible for the Indians to get justice when
their kinsmen were murdered by white men; for even if a murderer was
brought to trial no jury of white men would pronounce the murderer of an
Indian guilty. "All these injuries the Indians have hitherto borne with
astonishing patience." Thus Mr. Harrison had written to the President,
but it was evidently his policy to try to make the Indians think they
had no cause for complaint. In his letter to the Shawnees he went on to
say:
"My children, I have heard bad news. The sacred spot where the great
council fire was kindled, around which the Seventeen Fires and ten
tribes of their children smoked the pipe of peace--that very spot where
the Great Spirit saw his red and white children encircle themselves with
the chain of friendship--that place has been selected for dark and
bloody councils.
"My children, this business must be stopped. You have called in a number
of men from the most distant tribes to listen to a fool, who speaks not
the words of the Great Spirit, but those of the devil and of the British
agents. My children, your conduct has much alarmed the white settlers
near you. They desire that you will send away those people, and if they
wish to have the impostor with them they can carry him. Let him go to
the lakes; he can hear the British more distinctly."
To this letter the Prophet sent a dignified answer, denying the charges
the Governor had made. He spoke with regret rather than anger, and said
that "his father (the Governor) had been listening to evil birds."
VII. THE PROPHET'S TOWN
In 1808 Tecumseh and the Prophet moved with their followers to the
Wabash Valley, and established on the Tippecanoe River a village known
as the Prophet's Town.
Several advantages were to be gained by moving from Greenville to
Tippecanoe, all of which probably had their weight in influencing the
brothers to make this change. In the first place, there seems to be
little doubt that Tecumseh wanted peace, at least until he had built up
a confederacy strong enough to fight the Americans with some hope of
success. At Greenville the Indians were so near the settlers that there
was constant danger of trouble between them. And Tecumseh realized that
any wrong done by his people might be made an excuse for the government
to take more lands from the Indians.
Then, too, this redskinned statesman realized in his way that the best
way to prevent war was to be ready for it. He wished his people to be
independent of the whites for their livelihood. The Wabash Valley
offered the richest hunting grounds between the Lakes and the Ohio. Here
they need not starve should they be denied aid by the United States
government.
The location of the new village had further political value. It was in
the center of a district where many tribes camped, over which the
brothers wished to extend their influence. From the new town
communication with the British could be more easily carried on. This was
important in view of the troubled relations existing between the United
States and Great Britain. Tecumseh was shrewd enough to see that though
under ordinary circumstances the Indians were not sufficiently strong to
be very formidable to the United States government, their friendship or
enmity would be an important consideration in the war that threatened.
And he hoped that the Long Knives' anxiety lest they should join the
British would prevent their doing anything to gain the ill will of the
Indians.
The brothers wished Governor Harrison to understand that their desire
was for peace, and that they did not intend to make war unless driven to
do so. Accordingly, in August, Tenskwatawa, with a band of followers,
made the Governor a visit. The Indians stayed at Vincennes for about two
weeks. Harrison was surprised to find the Prophet an intelligent and
gifted man. He tested the sincerity of the Prophet's followers by
questions as to their belief and by putting in their way opportunities
to drink whisky. He was again surprised to find them very earnest in
their faith and able to resist the fire water. In Tenskwatawa's farewell
speech to Harrison, he said:
"Father: It is three years since I first began that system of religion
which I now practice. The white people and some of the Indians were
against me, but I had no other intention but to introduce among the
Indians those good principles of religion which the white people
profess. I was spoken badly of by the white people, who reproached me
with misleading the Indians, but I defy them to say that I did anything
amiss. * * *
"The Great Spirit told me to tell the Indians that he had made them, and
made the world--that he had placed them on it to do good and not evil.
"I told all the redskins that the way they were in was not good and they
ought to abandon it; that we ought to consider ourselves as one man, but
we ought to live according to our customs, the red people after their
fashion and the white people after theirs; particularly that they should
not drink whisky; that it was not made for them, but for the white
people who knew how to use it, and that it is the cause of all the
mischiefs which the Indians suffer, and that we must follow the
directions of the Great Spirit, and listen to Him, as it was He who made
us; determine to listen to nothing that is bad; do not take up the
tomahawk should it be offered by the British or by the Long Knives; do
not meddle with anything that does not belong to you, but mind your own
business and cultivate the ground, that your women and children may have
enough to live on.
"I now inform you that it is our intention to live in peace with our
father and his people forever.
"My father, I have informed you what we mean to do, and I call the Great
Spirit to witness the truth of my declaration. The religion which I have
established for the last three years has been attended by all the
different tribes of Indians in this part of the world. Those Indians
were once different people; they are now but one; they are determined to
practise what I have communicated to them, that has come directly from
the Great Spirit through me."
The Prophet made a favorable impression on the Governor, and after his
visit affairs went smoothly for a time. The Prophet preached and his
followers worked. Tecumseh traveled about north and south, east and
west, talking with the Indians and trying to unite the tribes and to
persuade them to follow his brother's teachings.
In the meantime, settlers came steadily from the south and the east, and
the governor felt the need of more land. Since he saw no prospect of
immediate trouble with the British and was convinced that the Prophet
had not been preparing the Indians for war, he determined to attempt to
extend the United States territory.
On the thirtieth of September, 1809, Governor Harrison called all the
tribes that claimed certain lands between the White and Wabash rivers to
a council. Only a few of the weak and degenerate tribes answered the
summons. Nevertheless, he went through the ceremony of making a treaty
by which the United States government claimed three million acres of
Indian land.
This act of Harrison's lighted a hundred council fires. Everywhere the
Indians denounced this treaty. Soon word reached Vincennes that tribes
that had before stood apart cherishing their independence had declared
their willingness to join the brothers at Tippecanoe. At the Prophet's
town the voice of the warrior, Tecumseh, sounded above that of the
preacher, Tenskwatawa; and running and wrestling were said to have given
place to the practice of shooting and wielding the tomahawk.
When the annual supply of salt was sent to Tippecanoe, the Prophet
refused to accept it, and sent word to the Governor that the Americans
had dealt unfairly with the Indians, and that friendly relations could
be renewed only by the nullification of the treaty of 1809.
The Indians were evidently ready for war, and repeated rumors of plots
to attack the settlements caused great anxiety among the frontiersmen.
The Indians now recognized Tecumseh as their leader, and looked to him
for the word of command. Realizing how much loss of life and land a
defeat would bring to the Indians, he worked tirelessly to make his
people ready for war, but resolved not to hazard a battle unless driven
to do so.
VIII. THE COUNCIL BETWEEN HARRISON AND TECUMSEH
Governor Harrison sent agents to Tippecanoe, who brought back word that
the Indians were preparing for war; that Tecumseh had gathered about him
five thousand warriors, and that the British were encouraging them to go
to war, and promising them aid. He therefore sent a letter to the
Prophet telling him of the reports he had received, and warning him not
to make an enemy of the Seventeen Fires. He wrote:
"Don't deceive yourselves; do not believe that all the nations of
Indians united are able to resist the force of the Seventeen Fires. I
know your warriors are brave; but ours are not less so. But what can a
few brave warriors do against the innumerable warriors of the Seventeen
Fires? Our blue-coats are more numerous than you can count; our hunters
are like the leaves of the forest, or the grains of sand on the Wabash.
Do not think that the red-coats can protect you; they are not able to
protect themselves. They do not think of going to war with us. If they
did, you would in a few moons see our flag wave over all the forts of
Canada. What reason have you to complain of the Seventeen Fires? Have
they taken anything from you? Have they ever violated the treaties made
with the red men? You say they have purchased lands from those who had
no right to sell them. Show that this is true and the land will be
instantly restored. Show us the rightful owners. I have full power to
arrange this business; but if you would rather carry your complaints
before your great father, the President, you shall be indulged. I will
immediately take means to send you, with those chiefs that you may
choose, to the city where your father lives. Everything necessary shall
be prepared for your journey, and means taken for your safe return."
[Illustration: HARRISON'S COUNCIL WITH TECUMSEH AT VINCENNES]
Instead of answering this letter, Tenskwatawa said he would send his
brother, Tecumseh, to Vincennes to confer with the Governor. Early in
August a fleet of eighty canoes started down the Wabash for the capital.
Tecumseh, with four hundred warriors at his back, all armed and painted
as if for battle, was on his way to meet in council for the first time
the man who was responsible for the treaty of 1809.
The party encamped just outside of Vincennes, and on the morning
appointed for the council Tecumseh appeared attended by forty warriors.
He refused to meet the Governor and his officers in council on the porch
of the Governor's house, saying he preferred to hold the conference
under a clump of trees not far off. The Governor consented and ordered
benches and chairs to be taken to the grove. When Tecumseh was asked to
take a chair he replied pompously: "The sun is my father; the earth is
my mother; on her bosom I will repose," and seated himself on the
ground. His warriors followed his example. In his speech Tecumseh stated
plainly the grievances of the Indians. He said:
"Brother, since the peace was made, you have killed some Shawnees,
Winnebagoes, Delawares, and Miamis, and you have taken our land from us,
and I do not see how we can remain at peace if you continue to do so.
You try to force the red people to do some injury. It is you that are
pushing them on to do mischief. You endeavor to make distinctions. You
wish to prevent the Indians doing as we wish them--to unite, and let
them consider their lands as the common property of the whole; you take
tribes aside and advise them not to come into this measure; and until
our plan is accomplished we do not wish to accept your invitation to go
to see the President. You want by your distinctions of Indian tribes in
allotting to each a particular tract of land, to make them to war with
each other. You never see an Indian come and endeavor to make the white
people do so. You are continually driving the red people; when, at last,
you will drive them into the Great Lake, where they can neither stand
nor walk.
"Brother, you ought to know what you are doing with the Indians. Perhaps
it is by direction of the President to make these distinctions. It is a
very bad thing and we do not like it. Since my residence at Tippecanoe
we have endeavored to level all distinctions--to destroy village chiefs,
by whom all mischief is done. It is they who sell our lands to the
Americans. Our object is to let our affairs be transacted by warriors.
"Brother, only a few had part in the selling of this land and the goods
that were given for it. The treaty was afterwards brought here, and the
Weas were induced to give their consent because of their small numbers.
The treaty at Fort Wayne was made through the threats of Winnemac; but
in future we are prepared to punish those chiefs who may come forward
to propose to sell the land. If you continue to purchase of them it will
produce war among the different tribes, and, at last, I do not know what
will be the consequence to the white people.
"Brother, I was glad to hear your speech. You said that if we could show
that the land was sold by people that had no right to sell, you would
restore it. Those that did sell it did not own it. It was me. Those
tribes set up a claim, but the tribes with me will not agree to their
claim. If the land is not restored to us you will see when we return to
our homes how it will be settled. We shall have a great council, at
which all the tribes will be present, when we shall show to those who
sold that they had no right to the claim they set up; and we will see
what will be done to those chiefs that did sell the land to you. I am
not alone in this determination; it is the determination of all the
warriors and red people that listen to me. I now wish you to listen to
me. If you do not, it will appear as if you wished me to kill all the
chiefs that sold you the land. I tell you so because I am authorized by
all the tribes to do so. I am the head of them all; I am a warrior, and
all the warriors will meet together in two or three moons from this;
then I will call for those chiefs that sold you the land and shall know
what to do with them. If you do not restore the land, you will have a
hand in killing them."
Governor Harrison began his reply by saying that the Indian tribes were
and always had been independent of one another, and had a right to sell
their own lands, without interference from others.
Tecumseh might have answered that the Seventeen Fires had already
recognized that the land was the common property of the tribes by
treating with ten of them in making the Greenville purchase. But instead
he and his followers lost their temper and jumped to their feet in a
rage, as if to attack the Governor. And the council ended in an
undignified row.
Tecumseh regretted this very much. He sent an apology to Governor
Harrison and requested another meeting. Another council was called and
this time the Indians controlled their anger; but Tecumseh maintained
till the last that the Indians would never allow the white people to
take possession of the land they claimed by the treaty of 1809.
The next day Governor Harrison, accompanied only by an interpreter,
courageously visited Tecumseh's encampment and had a long talk with him.
Tecumseh said the Indians had no wish for war, and would gladly be at
peace with the Long Knives if the Governor could persuade the President
to give back the disputed land. He said he had no wish to join the
British, who were not the true friends of the Indians, but were always
urging them to fight against the Americans for their own advantage.
Governor Harrison said he would report to the President all that
Tecumseh had said, but that he knew the President would not give up the
land he had purchased.
"Well," said Tecumseh, bluntly, "as the great chief is to determine the
matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough into his head to
induce him to direct you to give up this land. It is true, he is so far
off he will not be hurt by the war; he may sit in his town and drink his
wine, while you and I will have to fight it out."
IX. PREPARATIONS FOR WAR
A year of unrest and anxiety followed the council at Vincennes. The
United States government made an attempt to survey the new purchase, but
the surveyors were driven off by the Indians.
Occasional outrages were committed on both sides. Horses were stolen.
Several white men were murdered by Indians, and several Indians were
murdered by white men.
In the spring of 1811, when the usual supply of salt was sent up the
Wabash to be distributed among the tribes, the Indians at the Prophet's
town, instead of again rejecting it, seized it all. This was done in the
absence of Tecumseh, who seemed in every way to seek to avoid bringing
about war.
Governor Harrison knew the treacherous nature of Indians and feared that
Tecumseh's desire for peace might be feigned in order to throw him off
his guard. He reasoned that it was scarcely to be expected and little to
be wished that the United States should relinquish the territory for
which the Indians were contending. The Indians would hardly give up the
land without war. Delay only gave Tecumseh time to strengthen his band.
Harrison thought it wise to force the brothers to open war or to give
assurance of peace. Accordingly, he wrote them a letter or speech, in
which he said:
"Brothers, this is the third year that all the white people in this
country have been alarmed at your proceedings; you threaten us with war;
you invite all the tribes to the north and west of you to join against
us.
"Brothers, your warriors who have lately been here deny this, but I have
received information from every direction; the tribes on the Mississippi
have sent me word that you intended to murder me, and then to commence a
war upon our people. I have also received the speech you sent to the
Pottawottomies and others to join you for that purpose; but if I had no
other evidence of your hostility to us your seizing the salt I lately
sent up the Wabash is sufficient. Brothers, our citizens are alarmed,
and my warriors are preparing themselves, not to strike you but to
defend themselves, and their women and children. You shall not surprise
us as you expect to do; you are about to undertake a very rash act. As a
friend, I advise you to consider well of it; a little reflection may
save us a great deal of trouble and prevent much mischief; it is not yet
too late.
"Brothers, if you wish to satisfy us that your intentions are good,
follow the advice I have given you before: that is, that one or both of
you should visit the President of the United States and lay your
grievances before him. He will treat you well, will listen to what you
say, and if you can show him that you have been injured, you will
receive justice. If you will follow my advice in this respect it will
convince the citizens of this country and myself that you have no design
to attack them. Brothers, with respect to the lands that were purchased
last fall, I can enter into no negotiations with you on that subject;
the affair is in the hands of the President. If you wish to go and see
him, I will supply you with the means."
If either of the brothers should act upon the Governor's advice and go
to Washington he would be virtually a hostage in the hands of the
government, and the Indians would not dare to do the settlers any harm
lest their leader should come to grief because of their misdoing.
Tecumseh sent the Governor a brief, friendly reply, in which he promised
to go to Vincennes himself in a short time. Governor Harrison did not
know just what to expect from the proposed visit, but he remembered
Pontiac's attempt to capture Detroit by surprise and he prepared to give
his guest a warlike reception if need be.
Late in July the chief arrived, attended by about three hundred Indians.
A council was held which the Governor opened by recounting the injuries
the white men had suffered at the hands of the Indians, and by again
making the charge that the Indians were preparing for war. Tecumseh
replied with a counter enumeration of injuries, and said again that the
Indians would never give up the land in dispute, but that it was his
wish and hope that the matter could be settled peaceably. He said that
he was trying to build up a strong nation of red men, after the model of
the Seventeen Fires, and that he was on his way to visit the southern
tribes to invite them to join his league. He assured Governor Harrison
that he had given the strictest orders that the northern Indians should
remain at peace during his absence, and that as soon as he returned he
would go to Washington to settle the land question.
[Illustration: TECUMSEH INCITING THE CREEKS]